3 symptoms of burnout: the Maslach Burnout Inventory method
3 min readNov 29, 2022
What is burnout?
Signs of burnout can manifest in many different ways, depending on the context, but some of the following are common signs of burnout:
- Exhaustion
- Irritation
- Pessimism
- Anxiety
- Numbness
- Headaches
- Reduced creativity
- Diminished cognitive functioning
- Depression
- Withdrawal
- Listlessness
- Insomnia
From my research as a burnout coach into the realities of individuals who have experienced a work burnout (or multiple), here are some of the ways people have described their own signs:
- “A loss in purpose, focus, and energy.”
- “When you have an overwhelming feeling of not getting enough done nor ability to get caught up.”
- “A breaking point, can be any combination of physical/mental/emotional where you can no longer execute the day-to-day that is expected of you.”
When it comes to officially diagnosing burnout, there are many different ways to do so, but the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), developed in…